After that day's events, Kael intensified his training even further. He maintained the same level of intensity for the next four months.
On a particular day—Kael stood still in his training spot. Suddenly, he released all his mana. If someone were watching, they could see a swirling blue aura engulfing his entire body.
Slowly, he began pulling the mana back into his body. After about two minutes, the blue glow around him slowly disappeared. But if one looked closely, they would notice faint wisps of mana occasionally escaping from his body.
A grin spread across his face. "Finally! For fuck's sake, it took me nearly a year and a half to be able to do this."
He clenched his fists, feeling the mana coursing through his body. 'Now I can completely contain mana inside my body while reinforcing it. The control isn't perfect yet, but it'll get better with the training.'
With that thought, Kael started infusing more mana into his body, carefully keeping it contained without letting any leak out. He continued pushing his limits, infusing himself with mana until he could hold no more.
Then, he moved.
Kael jolted forward with extraordinary speed, his figure blurring as he darted through the woods. Trees zipped past him in a flash, the wind howling in his ears. But after just ten minutes, he skidded to a halt, panting heavily.
"Huff… Huff… Just ten minutes of maintaining this form, and I'm already out of mana," he muttered between breaths. "I'm losing too much mana while trying to sustain this form. But this should be enough to start the next phase of my training."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up, Kael took a deep breath, steadying himself.
He thought 'The next phase is to perfect this form. I need to activate it and meditate until I can contain my mana with zero loss. Until then, I should stop practicing my lightning affinity, So that I can completely focus on this. In fact, from now on, even during my morning workouts, I'll maintain this form entire time.'
From that day on, Kael committed himself fully to this refinement, dedicating the next two months to relentless training. Every waking moment—whether he was doing his workouts, meditating, or studying runecrafting—he maintained the form, forcing his body to adapt to the constant flow of mana.
The initial days were brutal—his control wavered, mana leaked out at regular intervals, and the mental strain of keeping it contained pushed him to exhaustion.
But he refused to stop.
Slowly, his body adjusted. His control increased, and the once erratic leaks dwindled to nothing. After only one week of training, he noticed something—his mana reserves were growing .
At first, his reserves increased at a tremendous rate. But as the days went on, the rate of growth slowed until the increase became barely noticeable.
As the days stretched on, He could hold more mana, circulate it more efficiently, and recover faster after depletion. By the time he fully mastered the technique, his mana reserves had quadrupled.
The improvement was staggering.
But then, just as he had grown used to the rapid gains, he hit a wall. The exponential growth slowed to a crawl, his reserves increasing only marginally despite his relentless efforts.
It wasn't entirely unexpected—he had known from the novel that only at the starting of this training method the mana reserves will grow exponentially , but once the body adapted, further growth would be minimal.
Still, it was a boon.
And now, he was ready for the next step.
Kael shifted his focus to precision. If he could infuse mana throughout his entire body, then he should be able to direct it into specific areas. He started with his hands, channeling his mana into entire hands. The process was surprisingly easy—his prior training had built a strong foundation. Within a day, he could reinforce his hands with full control.
Next, he moved to his arms, then his fists. He repeated the process with his legs, first focusing on his entire lower half, then restricting the flow to his knees, and finally down to his feet.
The results were astonishing. His strikes became sharper, his movements swifter. He was no longer just enhancing his body—he was refining his control by just reinforcing single body part to maximize efficiency.
After a week, he had fully mastered reinforcing any part of his body. He could channel mana into any area at will, balancing power and control seamlessly.
Now, it was time to test it.
Kael stood before a boulder roughly the size of his torso. He had picked it deliberately—sturdy, dense, the kind of rock that wouldn't crack under a weak strike. He clenched his fist, concentrating mana as much as he could in his fists. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and threw his punch with all his strength.
BOOM!
A deafening crack echoed through the clearing as the boulder shattered into fragments, pieces flying in the direction of his punch.
Kael gaped at the sight of his power—only for his excitement to be cut short by a sharp, searing pain.
"FUCK! That hurts like a bitch!"
He clutched his fist, his teeth gritted in pain. For a moment, he feared he had shattered his own bones. But when he hesitantly looked down at his hand, he was met with an unexpected sight—his fist was barely injured.
A few bruises, some scratches, but no fractures. His fist was still intact.
His eyes widened. "Holy shit…"
The pain still throbbed through his hand, but excitement overpowered it. This method hadn't just reinforced his body—his durability had increased to the point where he could strike with full force and still walk away with minor injuries.
As he flexed his fingers, the lingering sting of his punch still present, but his mind was elsewhere, ' If I remember correctly… This technique… it's the one used by the strongest beastkin clan in Varkath.'
They were called the Ironhide Clan—a lineage of beastkin warriors known for their unparalleled physical might.
Unlike other augmenters who could only use mana reinforcement to a certain limit, their unique constitution allowed them to contain far greater amounts of mana within their bodies than any other race.
This wasn't just a learned technique—it was an innate trait, passed down through their bloodline. Their physiology allowed them to saturate their muscles and bones with massive amounts of mana without suffering internal damage, making them walking calamities on the battlefield.
And among them, one stood at the pinnacle—
Raigor Bloodfang.
The strongest warrior in the history of the Ironhide Clan.
Kael exhaled sharply, his heart pounding.
Raigor had reached the Advanced Stage of the Ascendant Rank at just forty-five years of age— a level of power that placed him among the world's strongest beings.
His greatest feat? Single-handedly slaying General Xil'thar, one of the Demon King's most powerful commanders.
Raigor tore through Xil'thar's demonic armor and crushed his heart with a single devastating blow.
A legend.
Kael clenched his fist.
Even though he wouldn't reach the same heights as the Ironhide Clan members, this method would still give him a major boost. If he was able to infuse more mana into his attacks, he would become a force to be reckoned with.
Even though he lacked the Ironhide Clan's bloodline, that didn't mean he couldn't reach their level.
Talent was just one part of the equation. The rest was sheer willpower.
But unlike the beastkin warriors, he wasn't limited to just physical enhancement.
He wasn't intending to become an augmenter who depended solely on mana. Instead He was planning to infuse His attacks with lightning.
That meant he could take this technique one step further. If he could merge his mana-reinforced attacks with his lightning element, he could potentially develop a unique combat style that even the Ironhide Clan didn't have access to.
The idea sent a thrill down his spine.
Lightning has raw power, speed, and destruction. If he could integrate it with his body reinforcement, he might be able to achieve explosive acceleration, enhancing his speed and reaction time to superhuman levels. His attacks could become sharper, more devastating—like a living thunderbolt.
Kael took a deep breath, his eyes burning with excitement at the possibilities.
But first, he needed to reduce the time it took to infuse mana into his body—possibly to under a second.
Taking one last glance at the shattered remains of the boulder, he exhaled sharply, letting the last traces of adrenaline fade from his mind. His fingers curled and uncurled as he tested the lingering soreness in his knuckles. He turned on his heel and began making his way back toward his training grounds, his mind already shifting its focus to the next phase.
After he recovered some mana, he wasted no time and immediately resumed his training, concentrating on refining his control. He poured every ounce of his concentration into infusing mana into his body as quickly as possible, pushing himself to compress the process into the shortest time frame he could manage. Each repetition, each attempt, brought him closer to mastery.
What started as a sluggish, inconsistent infusion gradually became smoother, more refined. At first, it took several seconds to properly reinforce even a single limb. However, through relentless practice and sheer determination, he steadily decreased the delay.
It took him a full twenty days of rigorous training—countless hours spent in intense focus, refining and reinforcing the same action over and over—before he finally achieved his goal. He could now infuse mana into any part of his body in under a second.
Kael took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he assessed his progress. A sense of deep satisfaction welled up within him as he muttered to himself, 'I can easily reinforce any part of my body in under a second now. Further refinement will take time, but at this stage, it's already more than effective. Since I'll be relying on this method in real combat, constant use will naturally embed it into my muscle memory. Eventually, I'll reach the point where I can infuse mana instinctively, without even needing to think about it.'
With that thought solidified in his mind, his gaze sharpened. 'Since I am finally able reinforce my legs with precision, I should start learning that technique. It will become the foundation for my combat style—the very core of my strength.'